The present invention relates to the field of radio telephony and, in particular, to a short range radio station that can send commands to, and receive commands from, nearby mobile units and provide a link to the public switched telephone network the Internet and other networks.
Portable radio telephones and messaging equipment, such as cellular telephones, radio telephones, handyphones, pagers, radio-enabled personal digital assistants, and wireless networked computers present distractions and risks in some environments. For example, electronic devices may present a risk to safe travel on commercial airlines during take-off and landing. Electronic devices may present a risk or source of interference for medical and emergency equipment in hospitals and medical facilities. Ringers and beepers may present a distraction to audiences in theaters and conferences.
Currently, users of portable electronic equipment are asked to turn off their equipment during take-off and landing, upon entering a hospital, etc. Users are asked to turn off audible alerts in theaters and conference rooms. This process requires someone to request the action and it requires that the user remember to comply. It is also an unreliable process. If the announcement is made using a sign, the user might not notice it. If the announcement is made by a speaker, the user might not hear it or might not be present at the time of the announcement. Even if the user sees or hears the announcement, it is inconvenient for the user to access the controls of all electronic devices and turn them off or disable the audible alerts. In addition, there is a chance that the user will fail to operate the controls properly. Despite a user's efforts, a device may remain turned on or able to ring loudly.
The consequences of failing to turn off an electronic device may be serious. A commercial airliner may experience navigation, communication or equipment malfunctions. Medical equipment may not operate correctly or diagnostic equipment may provide inaccurate results.
In addition, there are many areas where portable radio equipment can safely be operated but does not operate or does not operate well because of poor reception. A commercial airliner in flight and a passenger train in transit can be too far from radio base stations for a cellular telephone or wireless data network to operate. Even in urban areas, physical structures, such as train or subway tunnels and stations can block access to nearby radio stations or base stations. In order to allow for telephone or data communications in such environments, some airliners, trains and stations provide public pay telephone services. However, these are expensive to install and maintain. Some customers hesitate to use public communications equipment due to convenience, or concerns about cleanliness or privacy.